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31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. 33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! ~ John 13:31-38
And now, in v.31, we read some of the most important words ever spoken: "Now the Son of Man is glorified." The Lord Jesus did not say this until Judas had decided to betray Him. How painful that must have been, to have a friend betray Him with a kiss. Further, in v.32, the Lord Jesus says "God is glorified in him" which is a reference to the fact that Judas' rejection of Him would begin the process ending at the cross.
In v.33, the Lord Jesus addresses the remaining eleven disciples by a new name: "My children." It was traditional then for the father to act as the host for the family and invite the children to ask questions that revealed the meaning of what was going on during the Passover meal. The youngest child was the one who began by asking, "What do these things mean?" and the father explained. This is what the Lord Jesus is doing here. He is the head of the family and the disciples are the children.
Then, in v.33, we read, "Where I am going, you can not come." Within twelve hours He will be hanging on a cross. Less than twenty hours from this He will be dead in the grave. This, then, is a time for some last instructions.
The disciples could not follow Jesus that night because they were unable to die for the forgiveness of mankind's sins. Only the Lord Jesus could do that. Jesus is telling us that we cannot glorify God by paying the penalty for anyone’s sin. No one gets to heaven by assisting the Lord Jesus in any way or by imitating Him. We only go to heaven through the Lord Jesus performance on our behalf. Our eternity is solely dependent on His death, burial and resurrection.
In v.34-35, He says, 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The Greek word used for "love" is agape. This is commitment love, the type of love which causes us to lay down our lives for another. Everyone has always agreed that this is exactly what we need to do to solve mankind's problems.
It is most difficult to love unlovely people. "As I have loved you," the Lord Jesus says in v.34. As in many places in Scripture, the word "as" here can better be translated "since": "Since I have loved you in order that you might love one another." His love for us, first and foremost, must define us. As a result, we discover that when His love defines us, we are positioned to feel loved. Then, we are stimulated by His love to be others minded. Essentially, in that context, He enables us to love others, despite our inefficient ability to love others.
His love is without respect of persons, and He loves unconditionally. His love chooses to love the unlovely, the rejected, the difficult to love. His love loves us who are unlovely, rejected, and difficult to love. It is those who learn to enjoy and be defined by His love are the ones who are able to pass it on to others regardless of whether they respond in kind or not.
In v.36-38, there is an exchange between Peter and the Lord Jesus. Peter's words prove that he thought he was thoroughly committed to the Lord Jesus. Peter believed he would lay down his life for the Lord Jesus who knew that Peter would fail miserably. The Lord Jesus knew that Peter was full of brotherly affection for Him, but brotherly affection is not the type of love which causes us to die for the Lord Jesus.
